Middle Way collects books for local violence survivors

Erin Biebuyck combed the shelves at the Monroe County Public Library.

Nothing.

She searched IU’s online library system.

Nothing there, either.

Biebuyck began work in January as a woman’s advocate at Middle Way House, a shelter and advocacy organization for individuals who have experienced domestic violence.

Biebuyck’s background was in history, gender and sexuality. She didn’t know how to talk to women who had lived in a cycle of control and submission. She didn’t know how to relate to people who had seen their children beaten or verbally assaulted, knowing they were next. She wasn’t sure how to encourage people to escape their own homes safely.

She became determined to learn. But there were no books.
She’s about to change that.

Biebuyck and Lindsay Lauver, a May IU graduate and intern at Middle Way, began a program called Pages for Change on Aug. 1. The program will raise money to purchase books addressing domestic violence. They will be distributed to local and university libraries in the six Indiana counties Middle Way serves, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Lawrence, Greene and Martin.

Biebuyck and Lauver selected 20 books covering both general and specific topics, Biebuyck said. They outline how to leave an abuser safely and to whom survivors can turn. Some are targeted toward specific groups.

“We have one that’s bilingual in English and Spanish,” Biebuyck said. “We have another for African-American women, and one for women of south Asian origin.”

She said some of the selected books target individuals of high socioeconomic status.

“People usually assume domestic violence happens among the poor or uneducated,” Beibuyck said. “We learn that’s not the case, and there’s a lot of shame, regardless.”

Biebuyck and Lauver have a fundraising goal of $9,000, which they are collecting through a website supported by startsomegood.com. They want to reach this goal by
Sept. 19.

With $9,000, Biebuyck said she would be able to purchase two sets of the 20 books for each library, which they would buy during the last two weeks of September and distribute by Oct. 1.

She and Lauver have set a “tipping point” of $3,000. If this smaller goal is not reached, the money raised will return to donors, Biebuyck said.

The smaller goal will allow the project to succeed even if Biebuyck’s best case scenario of $9,000 is not realized, she said. The deadline for the smaller goal is also Sept. 19.

The fundraising website asks supporters to donate between $15 and $1,000.

“A lot of people we know are students trying to make ends meet,” Biebuyck said. “But Lindsay and I thought, ‘I could donate $20.’ So I like this method.”

Regardless, Biebuyck said she and Lauver will purchase the books and distribute them by October, which is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If they don’t reach $9,000, Biebuyck said they will distribute one smaller set of books, which will be different for each library to cater to different demographics. The smaller sets are between 10 and 14 books per library, she said, and the average cost is $150 per set.

Middle Way has been lucky in the project, Biebuyck said, as they partnered with Boxcar Books, a local nonprofit, for the project. Boxcar will sell Middle Way the books
for 35 percent less than the list price. Biebuyck said this price is about the same Boxcar Books paid to obtain the books from publishers.

The women have tag teamed as they try to promote the program, and Biebuyck said she has treated it as a side project because of her numerous other duties at Middle Way.

Lauver was hired as an intern for the project, but her job as a barista at Soma Coffee House and Juice Bar keeps her busy.

Much of the work is done at home. Biebuyck spends her off-hours sending emails, writing press releases and maintaining the website.

The work has so far paid dividends. The website has garnered $1,724 in just 21 days.
One donor wrote Biebuyck an email explaining her reason for donating. The donor, an IU alumna, said she did so in memory of her grandmother, a woman who might have had a better life if she’d been able to find help.

“This is exactly the kind of resource many people, especially women, in that area would benefit from,” she tapped on her keyboard to a woman she’d never met.

“The person I want to mention in the dedication, my late grandmother, born and raised in that area, could have had a life filled with much less pain if she’d had a resource like Middle Way House or books in her local library about abuse available to her when she was young, and I know she would have supported an effort such as this to help others in similar circumstances.”